Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Overdramatic Alphabet Wizard
7:28 AM | 
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Bacon and Alisha
(Post by Bacon)
It seems like every month at school we have some sort of competition for the kids. Usually it's like a song and dance for the kids to perform. It's supposed to be about the students, but because of the way the school is set up it is really about the teachers. How your students perform can actually affect your bonus down the road. I know it's funny to think that children singing and dancing is connected to monetary gains, but it's true. The classes are set up in a competitive fashion and while most of the English teachers don't take it seriously, some of the Taiwanese teachers do. I made this video to mock the whole thing.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Some Videos Down
(Post By Bacon)
So I did something really stupid and accidentally removed all our videos off youtube. I'll be working on uploading every one of them again, but it will take time because we have a really slow upload speed.
UPDATE - Almost all the videos are up now. Only two need to be finished.
Out and about
(Post By Alisha)
After that we headed to a casual bar/pool hall called Roxy Jr. Cafe, where we played pool (albeit horribly) and showed off our hand-turning skills during a foosball tournament. The basement was stuffed with over-sized couches and it was a great place to kick-back and relax with friends. Some people complain that Taipei isn't as jam-packed with dynamic night-life as other big cities, but I think they often just don't know where to look.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
New Look & Some Music
(Post By Bacon)
So I finally got around to putting some design work into the blog. I hope these changes make reading our blog more enjoyable. I also have added a menu bar at the top of the page and slideshows to previous blog posts that include more photos.
Below is an updated list of songs that I used in all my videos with an iTunes link.
Artist: Steel Train | Song: Firecracker | Album: Trampoline | Listen
"Yehliu"
Artist: Sufjan Stevens | Song: No Man's Land | Album: Illinois | Listen
"Peace Memorial Park and National Palace Museum"
Artist: The Morning Benders | Song: Waiting For A War | Album: Talking Through Tin Cans | Listen
Artist: Vampire Weekend | Song: A-Punk | Album: Vampire Weekend | Listen
Artist: Vampire Weekend | Song: M79 | Album: Vampire Weekend | Listen
Artist: Eels | Song: Fresh Feeling | Album: Souljacker | Listen
Artist: Matt & Kim | Song: Daylight | Album: Grand | Listen
Artist: Lou Barlow | Song: The Ballad of Daykitty | Album: Emoh | Listen
"Taiwan Manyueyan Waterfall Hike"
Artist: Jesse Harris | Song: The Secret Sun | Album: The Secret Sun | Listen
"Downtown Sanxia in 2 Minutes"
Artist: Spoon | Song: I Turn My Camera On | Album: Gimme Fiction | Listen
Artist: Phoenix | Song: Lasso | Album: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix | Listen
Artist: Kyle Gabler | Song: Best of Times | Album: World of Goo Soundtrack
(download this whole soundtrack for free on the World of Goo website)
Artist: Kyle Gabler | Song: Red Carpet Extend-o-Matic | Album: World of Goo Soundtrack
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Tuesday, December 29, 2009
*Christmas Cheer*
(Post by Alisha)
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our friends and family! We missed all of you at this time of year, but we loved and will cherish the unique experience of the beautiful Christmas weekend we spent together here in Taiwan.
I was a little nervous that Christmas was going to be a holiday letdown akin to the turkeyless Thanksgiving we suffered through, but I was very happy with the way our festivities turned out.
The school allowed the foreign teachers to take off Friday (without pay, however), but we were happy at least to be granted a three-day weekend. Bacon and I spent a delicious morning enjoying a late brunch filled with some goodies from the Christmas package his parents sent, sipping eggnog, and watching a few classic holiday films. Christmas night we went to a hip restaurant in downtown called People Restaurant. The Chinese fusion cuisine was amazing and the atmosphere had a very sleek post-industrial feel with romantic touches like a wall dotted with fresh roses- it was well worth the slightly pricey menu. After dinner, we took a leisurely walk through the city among all the twinkling Christmas lights and decorations.
The next day we headed off mid-afternoon for our weekend in Beitou, an area 20 minutes north of Taipei filled with natural sulfurous hot springs. Because of the Japanese occupation, many of the older buildings, temples, and resorts in Beitou are built in beautiful Japanese tradition. We were able to view the Geothermal Scenic Area more commonly known as Hell Valley, so named because of its boiling springs shrouded in pillars of steam. Shortly after dipping our feet in the steamy public hot springs river, we headed up the mountain to check into our springs resort, Whispering Pine Inn.
The resort pipes in the hot springs straight from the natural sources in Beitou, and in addition to a large stone tub for guests of the resort, we also had our own private stone pool in our room. We checked in and soon trekked further up the winding path until we found a restaurant our guide book recommended, Shann Garden. It was tucked away high up in the mountain with a beautiful view of the city below, and it was one of the best eating experiences we've had so far in Taiwan. It was an upscale buffet that featured Mongolian-style BBQ, where you get to pick your own thinly sliced meats and veggies and have them cooked on a huge stone slate in front of you. Bacon and I had beef, pineapple, green tomato, onion, peppers, and fiery red chilis all cooked in sesame oil and soy. We also enjoyed dumplings, stir-fried veggies, salad, noodles, shrimp, fresh fruit, mango frozen yogurt, and, of course, all you can drink teas and soda. After dinner, we spent the rest of the night soaking away the winter chill (yes, it was a very frosty 55 degrees) in the hot springs and drinking champagne. It was a wonderful weekend getaway.
Now we're looking forward to another short week with Friday off for New Years. This will be the last post in 2009- ready to see what will unfold in 2010!
Monday, December 14, 2009
Staring Contest: You and Me
(Post by Alisha)
Last Thursday night, a few of the Chinese teachers we work with took us out to a Taiwanese restaurant for dinner. It's such a treat going out with people that speak the language, especially in Sansia as translated menus or even ones that include pictures are scarce. We often reluctantly pass by restaurants that look fun or smell tempting because we wouldn't know how or what to order.
The restaurant they took us to was very darkly lit and completely decorated in black and red. The menu was split into two categories: big hot pot or teppanyaki with small hot pot. We all chose the second option- I got a spicy pepper chicken teppanyaki and Bacon got a sesame Asian barbecue chicken teppanyaki.
In case you forgot, Hot Pot is an extremely popular Taiwanese dish where several items- oysters, shrimp, meat, rice noodles, mushrooms, fish paste, and tofu- are boiled together in a pot with broth. We have yet to discover the reason for its popularity, but a small pot is okay to pick at the few tasty items- love the oysters. (Game: How many items can you identify from the hot pot in the picture?) Like a lot of Taiwanese restaurants, it was b.y.o.b so we also got to bring in our own drinks, cheap and fun. Speaking of cheap, our whole meal only cost 120 NT, or under $4 U.S.
The food was surprisingly very delicious, and we had a blast hanging out with some of the Chinese teachers sharing cultural observations back and forth. One example of this that came up during the course of eating is the fact that in Taiwan, they usually keep the head, feet, eyes, etc. on their food, and obviously in America, that is not the norm. It's a little unappetizing to see a whole shrimp looking up at you from your pot of food - beady eyes and all, but of course Bacon couldn't resist a staring contest with it.
Sweet somethings
(Post by Alisha)Here's just a quick picture of a beautiful flower Bacon bought me this weekend at a Farmer's Market on Old Street. Every night it's petals close tightly and the next morning they open widely to reveal this vibrant purple blossom.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Directions to the MRT from Sanxia
(Post by Bacon)
Many people find directions confusing back home. For many it's a big hassle trying to get around without a GPS. Well those people would go crazy here in Taiwan. The roads constantly change names for no apparent reason, they never run in a straight line, street signs are a luxury to find and even then they'll only have English on them 50% of the time. Add that to the fact that there are no real driving laws and you'll have a very frustrating/scary time trying to get around.
I'm posting my directions to the Far Eastern Hospital MRT stop via scooter to show everyone back home how crazy the roads are here, and this post should really help the foreigners who already live in Sanxia/Shansia/Sansia/SOONSIAA (or whatever way you insist on spelling it). It's only a 20 minute scooter ride, but it's crazy.
STEP 1 LEAVING SANXIA: Take Min Sheng Road towards the highway. Min Sheng Road turns into San Shu Road for a couple blocks and then into Long Bu Road for no reason, but that's not important because you just drive straight. After you drive under the highway you'll come to a T intersection. I don't know the name of this road because it's only in Chinese but you take a right. (click on the image below to make it larger)
STEP 2 CRAZY ROAD: You'll be singing some Sheryl Crow to yourself while driving because you'll be driving on this winding road for awhile. After driving over a large bridge you'll take a left on Huan He Road (The map makes it look like you can drive straight after the bridge, but you can't.). Huan He Road is actually fun to drive on because it has two scooter lanes. This means that 95% of the time you won't have to worry about cars. The other 5% of the time some Taiwanese person won't care/understand that your in a scooter lane and they'll run you off the road. (click on the image below to make it larger)
STEP 3 INVISIBLE STREET SIGNS: After you pass through a bunch of construction (if it's still there when you read these directions) you'll start driving under a light blue overpass. Take a right at the first working street lights (there are several street lights that don't work for some reason). This is Yuan Fu Street, but don't look for a street sign because there is none. You'll only be on Yuan Fu Street for a second because your going to take a left at the next intersection Zhong Hua Rd. (click on the image below to make it larger)
STEP 4 CITY DRIVING: Now your in the city and driving will become a little more difficult. Stay on Zhong Hua Rd for awhile and it will turn into Zhong Yang Rd for no reason (you won't notice either). After driving through a crazy T intersection you'll come to a slight fork in the road. Take a left at the fork on Nan Ya South Rd. The MRT is on this road. After you pass the hospital you'll see exit 3 on your right. You can park your scooter behind exit 3. (click on the image below to make it larger)
That's it, you've made it to the MRT! (Sanxia google map)
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Saturday, November 21, 2009
Spiderman
(Post By Bacon)
One bad thing about living in a warm climate has to be the giant bugs. Many of the insects here are large enough to drive cars. Alisha and I have been lucky enough to not find any large creatures in the apartment, but some of the other teachers have not been so lucky. A few of our friends have found cockroaches larger than a deck of playing cards in their apartments. It gets talked about a lot and I knew it was just a matter of time before I would have to battle one of these beasts.
Well my day came on Friday at school. One of the Chinese teachers came into my classroom in the middle of one of my lessons and said she needed my help. I left my classroom and went to her classroom to discover the largest spider I've ever seen. This thing was about as big as my hand, had thick brown legs, and could probably beat me in hand to hand combat. I didn't have a camera with me so I couldn't take a picture, but thanks to a quick google search I was able to find it. (it's actually a screen shot from this youtube video).
After a futile attempt to reason with it I decided it was time to fight. I took off my sandal and attempted to smash it, but this thing was way too fast for my ogre-like reflexes. I took several more swipes at it and missed every time. The spider ended up running away (it must have been a French spider) under a desk and we couldn't find it for a good 5 minutes. During this whole ordeal the students started flipping out and we had to move all of them to the opposite side of the room. We eventually found it under the teacher's desk (probably trying to learn English so we could reconcile our differences) and I was able to slow it down with some whiteboard cleaner. After using about half the bottle of cleaner it still wouldn't die so I was forced to river dance on its face. Once the spider was dead the whole class cheered and I went back to my class to finish teaching Language Arts.
This event has scarred me for life.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Eating Taiwan
(Post by Alisha)
oyster egg pancakes: ah, just some of the delightful delicacies we've experienced, in sight, smell, or taste, since we've been here. Now I know that most of you are wearing a a genuinely perplexed look right now (hey, you mean authentic Chinese food doesn't come from a Li Yang's-esque establishment with General Tsao's chicken combos and neat little sweet-and-sour packets?) but a lot of Taiwanese cuisine we've tried is generally unidentifiable at best, and cooked in sweet, briney oils at worst. Even the deserts fail to strike any chord of familiarity (think dense cubes of gelatinous goo). This isn't to say we haven't found several foods that we can't get enough of- namely, pork and cabbage dumplings, beef noodle soup, taro balls, steamed layer cake, shaved ice, fresh fruit teas, fried squid, and rice, rice, rice with just about any vegetable, egg, or brothy topping- but the craving for American food is slowly over-taking the desire to expand our palate as the days go by. While we may be getting slightly less adventurous on our weekend dining excursions, we do, however, eat Taiwanese food every day for lunch. At school, "Auntie" prepares a huge pot of white rice and about three to four trays of, for lack of a better word, toppings- no pre-packaged Sysco school lunches here. All the teachers take a small bowl and fill it about 2/3 of the way up with rice, saving a bit of room at the top to pile on whatever new dish Auntie has concocted that day. Here is a sample schedule of what any given week is like for food:
M- Fish-flavored wheat gluten, spongey tofu, cabbage, mixed vegetables
T- Pork and onion stew (one of my favorites) and a watery egg and eel soup
W- Brown tofu squares, egg and tomato mix, oily Chinese eggplant and a whole fish
T- Curry day- horray! Big chunks of carrots and potatoes in a spicy/sweet curry sauce
F- Green vegetables, sweet garlic sausages (another favorite) and cabbage
Bonus: One great thing about Auntie's lunches is her delicious, homemade soy sauce that we always drizzle on top of whatever we get- and some days, it's just rice and soy.
Taiwanese fun food fact: One of the few foods that Andrew Zimmerman- the bizarre foods guy for the Travel Channel who eats bugs and intestines like they're popcorn- cannot stomach is a particular Taiwanese fruit called Durian. It's a large, melon-shaped fruit with spikes on it similar to a pineapple. Cut it open to reveal a slightly stringy, squishy interior that honestly tastes and smells like a rancid arm-pit. Yes, I tried it- I'm glad I did for the bragging rights, but it is a truly hideous fruit.
So where is all this going? Well, up until a few weeks ago, our favorite restaurant to savor some flavors from back home was a place called "The Diner" that has- you guessed it, diner food. The menu features items like banana pancakes, Denver omelettes made with organic eggs, and breakfast burritos- all complete rarities for Taiwan. We were also pleasantly surprised to find that a lot of their food out-does most American diners. The main caveat we had was the travel time it took to get there- it's in the heart of downtown Taipei, and it took us close to an 1 1/2 trip, basically making any quick brunch we wanted to have into an all-day event.
But no longer! Sansia now has its very own The Diner rip-off, literally seven minutes away from
us. It's called "The Door," and in true Taiwanese fashion, it's pretty much a blatant copy-cat establishment- which of course is fine with us, considering our love of original! (There seems to be very few qualms here with copyright issues, and we've seen several hilarious rip-offs, including, but not limited to: Abercrombie and Fith, R.Q. Polo (instead of Ralph Lauren Polo) and Blueberry (Burberry, anyone?) The decor is very cozy and cool, with hard-wood floors, black and white photos, lime green ceilings, and brick walls. Every menu item we've tried so far has been a great success, and we absolutely love having this place right around the corner. It's open late and has all-day brunch, but the dinner items are excellent as well. Although I'm sure our days of adventurous Taiwanese eating are far from over, it's comforting knowing that a meal that reminds us of home is just a walk away.
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Sunday, October 18, 2009
Livin, Lovin Taipei
(Post by Alisha)This past weekend, though nothing particularly outstanding happened, was one of those great weekends where we really felt happy here in Taipei. Saturday we met up with some friends at an outdoor flea market, which is rare for image-conscious, trendy Taipei. It was crowded- but what event, store, or sidewalk in Taipei isn't?- and while it might have been overwhelming for the average claustrophobic individual, it was otherwise a really fun afternoon spent wandering through stalls of friends and families hawking their old items. I found a cool postcard from the 70's showing an old map Taiwan that I'm probably going to reframe at some point. Afterwards, Bacon and I stopped for a few beers at Ireland Potato to chill and enjoy the absolutely perfect 75 and sunny weather that we've been loving these past few weeks. October and November are probably the most beautiful and temperately ideal months in Taiwan.
On a friend's suggestion, next we hopped on the MRT and made our way over to Shida Night Market, one famous market we had yet to visit. Shida is a student area and has a really funky, cool vibe. The night market is definitely a favorite place to hang out with friends on the weekends, try lots of different foods (goose head, anyone?), and shop at a place that's basically an inexpensive open-air mall. The night market slightly resembles a maze, with many forking streets and alleys that veer off in all different directions. Robert actually came up with a system (why wouldn't he?) of going left, right, and then straight at each intersected point so we wouldn't get stuck holding our breath and walking past the same stinky tofu vendor four times like we did at our first night market. We eventually wound up at an unassuming, but extremely popular little dumpling cart. In fact, we actually had to take a number and wait about 1/2 hour to get our piping hot, fresh box of dumplings. It was totally worth the wait- for 72NT (less than $2 U.S.) we got a box of 12, and they were gooey, fresh, and loaded with flavor. For another dollar, we each got a fresh-squeezed raspberry lime juice drink and took our treats over to the adjacent park to sit down and enjoy.
Sunday we had brunch with another couple at our school at an awesome little diner that just opened up in our area. It has a little wooden outdoor deck and fresh-squeezed orange juice comes with each meal. Later in the day we scooted up to the mountains for a break from the city and some fresh air. So far, fall has been superb- the only thing that would make it complete would be football :)
Hope you're all still enjoying reading about our adventures here in Taiwan as much as we are living them! We miss you all~
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Bacon Gets a Scooter
(Post by Bacon)
Yeah that's right post by Bacon. I can do more than just edit and upload videos. I can poorly construct a written story.
As you can tell by the title of this post, I got a scooter. When we first arrived in Taiwan and I saw traffic I said there was no way I would ever ride a scooter. Well, after a few months here I got used to the horrible driving and thought I would give it a try. What it really came down to was convenience. Alisha and I don't mind using the MRT system, but we hate waiting for the bus. We also don't mind going for little walks to get food or go shopping, but we hated walking to go do a chore like grocery shopping.
(I like to drive around kicking small Taiwanese people.)
So after a few weeks of debating, we decided that it would be a good idea to get one. Buying the scooter wasn't difficult at all thanks to our Chinese tutor Twinsen. He drove me to a place to test out a few models and did all the translating with the sales lady. After a couple of hours I had a scooter and was driving home in Taipei traffic.
So far we've had the scooter for a week and it's been great. We love having the freedom to go wherever we want whenever we want. I even found an easy route to the Far Eastern Hospital MRT stop that should really cut down on our travel time. I already feel accustomed to the horrible driving habits of the people here and always do my best to be a defensive driver. The only thing I'm missing is a lame "Eat My Dust" shirt. Wish us luck!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Swimming with the fishies
(Post by Alisha)
Some of the instructors even asked Bacon to help them hoist the girls way above their heads and launch them off flailing into the water- that's when I knew that all pretenses of safety protocol were mere formalities haha. By the end of the day, we all agreed that it was one of the coolest experiences of our trip. Next time I'd like to get my scuba diving certification and give that a try- maybe on a future trip.
As I mentioned in the Penghu post, a highlight of our trip was going snorkeling. We showed up bright and early at the snorkel place and geared up (just barely squeezing into their largest wetsuit sizes) with a group of about 8 other snorkelers and three instructors. When we arrived at the part of the ocean where we'd be snorkeling, one of the instructors began to give a ten minute speech- all in Chinese of course. The one instructor who spoke a little English turned to us and said- "safety speech." He then proceeded to give us the one-minute basic version- basically just "not good go out too far." I mean, who needs a safety lesson when they're about to swim about in deep ocean waters surrounded by odd fish?
As soon as we put on our masks and looked down, it was like being in the Little Mermaid movie. Neon-colored rainbow fish darted inches from my face, long, pointed nose skimmer fish zipped on the surfaces of the water, and mini starfish crawled about. Brightly colored sea anemones lined the bottom of the seabed along with coral and weird eel-looking fish. One of the instructors actually caught a puffer fish and we all got a chance to hold him with his spikes poking out. They also gave us mushy bread to feed the sea creatures, and electric blue fish and some creepy gray ones literally swarmed us to feast on the snacks. After snorkeling for a while, our whole group took turns doing jumps, dives, and flips off one of the out-cropping rocks into the water.
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About Bacon & Alisha
- Bacon and Alisha
- After going through a somewhat depressing job search, Alisha and Bacon decided that they wanted to travel and see the world. Some research showed that with their college degrees they were qualified to teach English as a second language in many countries. Following an extensive search, they decided that the country of Taiwan- with its subtropical climate, beautiful mountains, and exciting night life- would be the perfect choice for them. They will spend a little over a year in Taiwan teaching English at private schools to Taiwanese children.
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